Dec. 29--Maryland doctors are once again pushing a tanning-bed ban for teenagers in hopes of fighting skin cancer.
Med-Chi, an organization of Maryland physicians, announced earlier this month that it plans to advocate -- for the second year in a row -- a ban on tanning for anyone under 18.
"The legislation will protect youth from melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer," MedChi CEO Gene Ransom said in a statement. The organization estimates that a quarter of all tanning bed users are between 13 and 19 years old.
The incidence of melanoma in Anne Arundel County is higher than the state average and among the highest in the state, according to a June report by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2009, a division of the World Health Organization determined that people who start using tanning beds before age 35 increase their risk of melanoma by 75 percent.
The WHO reclassified tanning beds as "carcinogenic to humans," the same warning the health organization applies to cigarettes.
Efforts to limit access to tanning beds for those under 18 have been spreading in recent years. Last year, 15 states, including Maryland, attempted to curb access, according to the
National Conference of State Legislatures.
In 2009, Montgomery County became the first jurisdiction in Maryland to ban underage tanning. But currently, California is the only state with a ban.
Del. Mary Ann Love, D-Glen Burnie, sponsored one of last session's bills for a ban on tanning for people under 18. She said yesterday that she had not yet considered whether to reintroduce the measure.
"We'll look into it once the session gets started," she said.
Like many states, Maryland requires minors to get parental consent before they can use a tanning bed.
The Indoor Tanning Association has opposed such bans both in Maryland and other states, contending that the link between skin cancer and tanning beds is tenuous. Drawing a distinction between sunburns and sun exposure, the organization said experts disagree on whether moderate tanning bed use can lead to melanoma.
After California adopted its under-18 ban last fall, the association released a statement that "in making this decision, they ignored the fact that there is no consensus among researchers that normal nonburning exposure to ultraviolet light, whether from the sun or a sun bed, has any effect on the development of melanoma skin cancer."
Several states have created exemptions to parental consent laws if the tanning is part of a doctor-prescribed regime to enhance production of vitamin D.
Advocates of a ban argue that recent studies show the risk of ultraviolet-light exposure is heightened in the young, and that myths about tanning can lead to poor decisions.
"It is critical, especially for our young people, that we dispel the myth that tanning provides a 'healthy' glow," Dr. Marcia S. Driscoll, president of the Maryland Dermatologic Society, said in a statement.
Locally, County Executive John R. Leopold, a melanoma survivor, has pushed tanning bed restrictions for years. In 2009, he unsuccessfully attempted to require the approximately 35 tanning salons in Anne Arundel County to post signs warning that the beds were carcinogenic. He'd prefer a ban.
"They are the only way to be certain that young people are not going to be exposed to these deadly ultraviolet rays," Leopold said. "It's foolproof. It's more effective in ensuring that we will reduce the incidence of melanoma ... The lives lost can never be regained."
ecox@capgaznews.com
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